THIS POST UPDATED APRIL 2011. Up to date news for Life Drawing Art Classes and Sketch Club. Holiday Sketch Clubs will be held on Tuesday 12th and Tuesday 19th April 2011

NOW ENROLING FOR ART CLASS NEXT TERM

Term Two starts Tuesday 26th April and Wednesday 27th April. School phone number is 0415 254 793. Classes for both advanced students and beginners

200 YEAR OLD PRESS ARRIVES

Past student Franka Marussia donated an old and wonderful French oak press to the studio. It's delivery turned into a 10 hour adventure across Sydney that culminated in a 3 hour marathon just to get it up the stairs.

Artist Roger Akinen volunteered his truck for the job and we got it to the bottom of the stairs at 9:30 in the evening. Unfortunately Roger and his friend Graeme had an appointment elsewhere and couldn't stay. Pablo and I were discovering the difficulty of getting up the first step when Liliana, a long time model and friend of the studio passed by and offered to help. The 3 of us then spent 3 hours getting it to the top of the stairs. I still have bruises from the job. The press now is set up in the studio and looks quite beautiful. We look forward to using it as soon as we get the bed arranged for etching.

Thank you Franka.

HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES:

This autumn recess will be 2 weeks. There will be a sketch club on both Tuesdays from 6:30 - 9:00pm. This is your chance to draw without interuption to the music from me.

NEXT TERM DATES:

We return to classes on Tuesday 26th April and finish on Wednesday 29th June.

LANDSCAPE: Saturday: 10:00am until 12:30 (usually runs until 1pm as we usually start a little late)

CREATIVE PAINTING: One place only available at this stage as this class is almost full

SKETCH CLUB: No lessons, but share the model for a moderate fee of only $8

Phone 02 9368 0696 to book your place in these fun yet productive courses. Classically based but not traditionalist, these classes stimulate creativity alongside the pursuit of excellence. You may click on any of the class titles to go to the website for that class.

Over time East Sydney Academy of Art has become home away from home to many wonderful people from far flung parts of the world. Until recently the furtherest that anyone had come to attend art classes here was Bergen in Norway. During the last term however we have had Sara, and she is from Helsinki in Finland. We doubt anyone will beat that record for distance, at least not for a long time.

During her time here Sara has won many hearts, her gentle ways, her smile that charms, and her enthusiasm have made her a very special part of the fabric of our bohemian studio. She will be missed, although, we suspect she will be carrying a small piece of the studio around the world in her heart.
Bon Voyage, Sara.

We asked Sara to fill in this student profile for us to share. For more about Sara go to the Creative Painting website by clicking here.

NAME? Sara Pathirane.

YOUR HOME IS? 61 Darlinghurst Road / Helsinki.

FAVOURITE ARTIST? Frida Kahlo.

OTHER INTERESTS? Travelling and good stories.

HOW DID YOU FIND THE SCHOOL? I just saw it on my way home.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT? Tony gives a lot of space for students creativity and teaches the techniques as well. And the studio is fantastic!

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED HERE? Use my imagination, a lot of art history and Kings Cross life. There are no concave lines in the human body, and that Tony is a wonderful person.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY? Memories of this school will be one of the most important I have about Sydney.

I am a great believer in keeping things simple as much as possible. Always keep it simple with both making pictures and the materials you use. Huge collections of every colour under the sun is both confusing and unnecessary. An experienced hand can make wonderful things with virtually anything, while expensive paintboxes cannot turn a beginner into an advanced artist over-night.

It is better to have less, but for those things to be the best you can afford at the time, than to have lots of poor quality materials. The following are descriptions of the various material available, but because they apply to the needs of several classes, simply select the items that apply to your class only. Where there is a noticeable difference between the brands I point that out, and where any brand is the same as any other, I say that too.

For all classes I suggest getting the basic minimum at first and then slowly adding to the supply as needs and your growing needs dictate. When you are not certain about materials for a certain class you can never go wrong if you arrive with a sketch book and a pencil.

At East Sydney Academy of Art basic supplies such as cartridge paper and charcoal can always be obtained at a minimal cost if necessary.

Charcoal remains the essential basic life drawing material. It is capable of making the softest and gentlest of marks, yet also able to be strong and powerful. Charcoal was probably the first drawing material used more than 100,000 years ago. It is still with us because it is a wonderfully flexible material. A good average thickness for charcoal is about 5mm.

Always get Willow Charcoal and avoid 'compressed charcoal' which is a synthetic product that lacks the subtlety of the natural charcoal.

As a general rule German manufacturers make the best pencils. Their pencils are consistently smooth and delightful to draw with.

My favourites are Staedtler tradition, available from any newsagency, and as good as any pencils on the market. For most purposes 2B is as soft as anyone needs. It was Lloyd Ree's favourite grade for all those wonderful drawings of his. It is hard to go past a recommendation like that.

The best eraser for artists is usually a 'kneaded eraser' also called a 'knetgummi' in german. I tell you that because the very best one is also the cheapest one, and is sold in most newsagents. It is a blue-grey colour (although it is starting to be made in other colours) and is labeled simply 'Faber Castell Knetgummi Art Eraser'. This is a case where the expensive offerings from company's like Winsor and Newton are unfortunately no where near as good to use.

Faber Castell also make the traditional classical artists chalks in pencil form. The colours are Sanguine (red chalk), Sepia (brown chalk), Black and white. The label on these excellent materials is 'Pitt'. Just be careful not to get the 'oil-base' versions which are niether traditional, nor particularly strong in colour, or pleasant to use.

Back in the renaissance these hard chalks were used sharpened and clamped to the ends of pencil-like wooden handles, so the Pitt pencils are very close to the look and 'feel' of traditional chalks over the centuries.

Pencils should always be sharpened with a knife where possible. I recommend a simple plastic 'stanley knife' style. With a knife the pencil point gives a far more interesting line than the perfectly conical point made with a sharpener. However knives cannot be taken aboard airplanes and so on, so sharpeners are recommended when travelling.

There are two types of recommendable pens for artistic use. The traditional reed pen is very cheap and was a favourite of Van Gogh. It makes a line full of character, and if you have a stand of bamboo inthe garden, it is easy to cut an interesting variety of reed pens. Simply buy one, then cut your own following the style of the bought one.

Steel nibbed dip pens are a invention of the 18th century. The fact that the line is less than perfect as you dip and the ink runs out gives the lines a variety that is far more interesting than modern pens. A recent 'improvement on the traditional nib is the nib with an extra metal piece that acts as a 'reservoir'. This actually works very well without losing the character of the dip pen. Both nibs and holders are inexpensive and available from most art stores.

Inks should always be 'pigmented'. Be wary, because many inks fade easily. The best pigmented black 'Indian Ink' on the market is the Winsor and Newton one, but the Winsor and Newton coloured inks are dye based and have a bad reputation for fading and should be avoided.
Any ink that is labeled as being pigmented and is not a bright colour should be fine for lightfastness. Remember never buy inks from newsagency's, never buy inks that have generic brands and never buy inks that are not labeled 'pigmented' unless it is the Winsor and Newton Indian Ink, which is pigmented, but they don't say so on the bottle.

Safe colours to buy are Burnt Sienna or Sepia, Ultramarine Blue and Black. Bright Yellows and Reds often are more prone to fading than earthy colours. If you have to have only 2 colours, the most useful combination is Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine. Together they make beautiful fleshy colours and soft neutrals.